Brake for hand-trucks.



J. H. COMPTON & W. CRANE.

BRAKE FOR HAND TRUCKS.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV.29, 1913.

Patented Dec. 1

UMMMLCc'LA 7HE NORRIS PETERS C0,, PHOTO-LITHO.. WASHINL TON I: c

UNITED. STATEs PAT NT OFFICE.

, JOHN H. ooMrtroiv an]; WALTER CRANE, F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that from the truck.

brake shoesjupon lthe may be quickly and easily increased-or d1- truck wheels and States, residing atBaltimore city, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brakes for view of a truck with Hand-Trucks,

of which the following is a specification.

particularly to a brake of that class which may beapplied-to hand trucks noW- commonly used in loadingand unloading freight vessels and transporting the I said freight stored onand about, wharvestddelivery wagons or warehouses.

One-object of the inventionis to provide means Wherebyany degreeof pressure may be quickly and evenly applied simultaneously to both Wheels of a heavily loaded truck when descending an inclined plane disposed betweenthe Wharf and the deck of a vessel, thereby. preventing, skidding of A further object of the invention" is to provide means wherebythe pressure of the Wheels of the truck minished at the .W1ll:0f the operator when there are several trucks ascending or de scending the inclined plank disposed between-the vessels deck and'whar v iz' A further object of theinvention is' -to provide means which normally hold the brake shoes free of engagement with the means which when actuated offsets the action of the first named means so that the Wheels of the truck may be quickly and tightly clamped by the brake shoes.

A further object of the invention is to provide the brakeshoes with a wheel scraping means through the action of which, particlesof rosin, mulated by the wheels when goods of this character aretransported by thetruck may be removed.

With these and other ends in view which will readily appear as the nature of. the inventiongis better understood, the same consists in the improved construction and novel arrangement and combination of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out-in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing has been illustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, understood W6,.JOI-'IN H. COMPTON tar and cotton lint accu-- [BRAKE Fort HAND-T UC S; H I

' Patented need, 1914; iSeria1N0.,8 03,68'0.

that no limitation.is'necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but that changes, alterations and modifications within-the-scope of the claim' may be resorted to vhendesired; 1

In the draw-ing,.Figure 1 is a top plan parts broken away, showing the invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 isa vertical sectional view taken on theline2-2 in Fig, 1 Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 in Fig.1 Fig-4L 1s a fragmentary planview of a modified form oftheinvention. Corresponding aredenoteduby like characters of, reference. The letter A designates the side rails of a truck; B, the axle, and G, the wheels thereof. A horizontally and laterally disposed brake shoe carryingbeam l is mounted in horizontally alinedelots 3 in the side rails A of the truck, said beam being adapted to be slid horizontally in the slots 3 through the action of a horizontally and longitudinally disposedlink 4 having one'end thereof centrally pivoted to the said beam, as at 5. The other end of the leverd is pivotally connected, as at-6, to the long arm 7 .ofa horizontally and laterally disposed; lever 8 pivoted, as at 9, to the truck aXleB. To provide against lost motion due to wear of sidewith a cone-shaped boss 10 adapted to be inserted in a similar opening in the axle at l6,'to a hand lever 17 movably secured to the underside of thetruck handle. In, order that the handle 17 may bewithin convenient reach of the operator, and the rod 15, as Well as the 'handle,fout of the Way of articles placed upon and projecting below the side rails of the truck, the said rod 15 is providedwith an olfse I portion 18. Centrally connected to the brake shoe carrying beam 1 and extending longitudinally and passing through an 'opening'in the axle Bis a guide rod 20 having one end thereof threaded, as at 21, for thereception of nuts 22 to adjust the tension of a spring 23 carried by said rod and interposed between the beam-1 and the axle B, said spring and rod serving mally hold the brake shoes from engagement parts in the several figures.

the lever 8 at the pivot 1 point weprovide-the said lever on its underto norby the action of the nuts 22 on the rod 20 I other end centrally with the wheels of the truck. In adjusting' the brake shoes with relation to the wheels with wheel scrapingmeans 24:. i y

In Fig. 4 there has been shown a slightly modified form of the invention, wherein-the long arm 7 of thelever 8 is provided with an arcuate slot 25, said slot. engaging a pin 26 carried by one end ofa lever 27, saidlever having one end passing through an opening in a clip 28 secured to the axle B, and its connected to the brake shoe carrying beam 1. Through the above named means, it is readily apparent that when the lever 8 is actuated, the rod 27 and the brake shoe carrying beam will be drawn horizontally toward the axle, thereby assurrolling a heavily loaded truck down an in-,,

ing an even pressure of the brakeshoes upon the truck wheels.

' From the foregoing description, it will be readily apparent that in the operation of clined plane, pressure upon the handle 17 which is within convenient reach of the hand of the operator eXertsa pull upon the rod 15,

which, in turn, through the action of the lever 8 and link 4, draws the brake beam 1 In order that gummy andadhesive and the rod 20 in a forward direction against theaction of the spring 23, thereby applying pressure of]. the brake shoes and scrapers carried by the beam l-equally to each wheel of the truck. It'will be noted that the movement ofthe handle v17 necessary to diminishor increase the pressure of the brake shoes upon the wheels may .be regulated through the turn buckle or by the nuts which increase or diminish the pressure of the spring '23 against thesliding beam 1. 1

- Having'thus described the invention what is claimed as new,is:- I

The combination with the axle and side bars of a hand truck, ofa brake therefor comprising a beam slidably mounted in said side bars, shoes carried by the opposite ends of said beam, a lever pivoted to said axle, a;

handle-'pivotally mounted on one of said sidebars, a rod connecting one end of said lever to said handle, a .linklpivotally connecting said lever to the medial portion of said beam, a guide rod slidably mounted in said axle and connected to said beam soas to limit the travel of the beam to a forward and rearward direction, nuts having screw threaded engagement withthe free end of tween the brake shoes and 'wheelsfof the truck, and a spring encircling'said guide rod for restoring the parts to normal position.

In testimony whereof-we aflix our signatures in presence of'two witnesses. Y

Y JOHN H. COMPTON. WALTER CRANE. v Witnesses; w p i v FREDERICK SCHMIDT, DANIEL W. ORoURKE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained f r five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

i washlngton nfl Y v i 1 the guide rod for varying the pressure be- 

